"Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has argued at length that 3I/ATLAS - the third-ever interstellar object ever detected, currently screaming through the solar system at incredible speed - could be an enormous alien spacecraft measuring miles across. While there's a wide consensus in the scientific community that we're looking at a comet largely made up of carbon dioxide ice, Loeb maintains that the object has many unusual properties that leave him suspicious it's something even more exotic."
"1. Its Trajectory Is Closely Aligned With the Solar System's Planets Loeb points out that the mysterious visitor's trajectory falls within just five degrees of the Earth's path around the Sun, or the ecliptic plane. He argues there's only a 0.2 percent likelihood of this happening. 2. It Visited Several Planets In addition to its near alignment with the ecliptic plane, 3I/ATLAS' arrival time takes it on a course right past Mars and Jupiter - both worlds that intrigue our own scientists in the search for life beyond Earth - in what Loeb calls a " remarkable fine-tuning of the object's path." Earlier this month, the object passed by Mars closely enough for two of the European Space Agency's spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet to snap photos of it. It's expected to come within just 33.3 million miles of Jupiter in March 2026, which could allow NASA's Juno spacecraft to intercept its path as well, Loeb argues."
3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar object detected, moving rapidly through the solar system. Observers note nine anomalous properties that have prompted speculation about an artificial origin despite a natural-comet baseline. The anomalies include a trajectory closely aligned with the ecliptic within five degrees, passages near Mars and Jupiter, development of an anti-tail, and reports of nongravitational acceleration inconsistent with typical dust-driven outgassing. Additional claims cite low visible dust, high reflectivity, possible fragment release, and timing related to solar conjunction. Most analyses favor a carbon-dioxide-dominated comet, but the collection of unusual behaviors keeps alternative hypotheses under consideration.
Read at Futurism
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